Army captain sees the light: Update in post #41

Back during the SE Asia conflict I was trying to decide which branch of the service to join. The Airforce had a waiting list, the Army offered me OCS but I didn't like the lifespan of a 2nd Lieutenant. The Marine Corps recruiter made boot camp sound like a health club: "They have specialists who will build up every muscle in your body". I picked the Navy. FWIW: We all came out of boot camp as E2's and most were E3's in a few months. I was E5 after 3 yrs.
 
MaxKimber said:
You mean to tell me there are other armed services besides the Marines, huh, who knew...

Semper Fi.
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That reminds me - one day I was in line at Costco, and the guy in front of me was wearing an Army veteran cap. We started chatting, and I mentioned to him that I served in the Air Force. He said "Air Force - is that a branch of the military?" I replied without pause "Oh yeah, it's a branch of the military, it's like the Army but it's for smart people". He got quite the chuckle out of that. Who doesn't enjoy the friendly inter-service rivalry.
 
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If they put nukes on satellites it could be considered combat arms.:rolleyes:

When I got to Army helicopter flight school we were all E-5s, for pay purposes ONLY. We need the extra money for...well we just needed extra money.;)
 
Came from a Air Force family.
When I enlisted in '74 some of my friends went Air Force and some went Marines.
We all gave each other grief about our choices.
Just went with the territory.
But in the end we were all Brothers.
Always thought that the Marines stood for My *** Rides In Navy Equipment Sir. :)
 
The thing about this is really boils down to the nuts and bolts of his time in training and beyond really...As an Army Captain, more will be required of him beyond a regular recruit and at some point when he acclimates well, it will help him.

It reminds me of a story a friend told about a quiet guy that joined the army around 1980. He was prior service Vietnam, but that was common among E8's and officers at the time that had stayed in.

When he graduated at Fort Benning, he pinned his prior service rack on his uniform and had four rows of ribbons with two bronze stars, (one with "V"), two Vietnam tours, one ARCOM, one Legion of Merit and a host of other decorations. The other recruits' jaws dropped and the DI's were amazed as well that he kept his mouth shut the whole time.

His reasoning was that peacetime DI's might be a little threatened by him during his most vulnerable point...Getting through initial training without being singled out as "you aughta know better.." I thought the story was funny.
 
raljr1 said:
I don't know about these, but my son enlisted in the Florida National Guard and because had an MBA, he went thru basic as an E4. Of course he took a little grief from the DIs over it. They nicknamed him "Dictionary" and made him introduce a new word to the platoon on a regular basis.

He tells me about being on the firing range with the Beretta, and it was hitting to the left. He asked the sergeant if he could adjust the sights, and the sergeant said, "Just shoot that pistol soldier." So son adjusted his point of aim. Then someone from the pit looked at his target and yelled back to the sergeant, " We got someone doing surgery over here!" Son is a good shot.

He enlisted instead of OCS because the loan repayment for enlisted was better that for officer candidates. He is still in the guard, he's an E6. Did two tours, one in East Africa and the other as a door gunner on a Chinook in Iraq.
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The Corps and the Navy had stopped the Contract E-4 Program before I retired. The non contract folks had no real respect for them as NCO as they had no knowledge or experience to go behind their rank. We called them "Contract Cpls." and the Navy called the "Push Button Petty Officers". neither term was meant as respectfully.
 
raljr1 said:
I don't know about these, but my son enlisted in the Florida National Guard and because had an MBA, he went thru basic as an E4. Of course he took a little grief from the DIs over it. They nicknamed him "Dictionary" and made him introduce a new word to the platoon on a regular basis.

He tells me about being on the firing range with the Beretta, and it was hitting to the left. He asked the sergeant if he could adjust the sights, and the sergeant said, "Just shoot that pistol soldier." So son adjusted his point of aim. Then someone from the pit looked at his target and yelled back to the sergeant, " We got someone doing surgery over here!" Son is a good shot.

He enlisted instead of OCS because the loan repayment for enlisted was better that for officer candidates. He is still in the guard, he's an E6. Did two tours, one in East Africa and the other as a door gunner on a Chinook in Iraq.
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I would have encouraged OCS if my son had an MBA...That's wasted talent being enlisted from the bottom. I would do enlisted for a while and then immediately went OCS...

He would have breezed through it and at the end of the day, his retirement $ would be far better.
 
My son decided to join the Marines between his Jr-Senior college year. I told him if he didn't finish college--on my nickel--there would be one dead Marine. He knew I was serious. He did his time as an enlisted Marine but, after graduation, switched to a Navy officer. Said once through Marine boot camp was enough. Retired as a Lt Cmdr (USN Reserve).
 
SMSgt said:
My son decided to join the Marines between his Jr-Senior college year. I told him if he didn't finish college--on my nickel--there would be one dead Marine. He knew I was serious. He did his time as an enlisted Marine but, after graduation, switched to a Navy officer. Said once through Marine boot camp was enough. Retired as a Lt Cmdr (USN Reserve).
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Back in the '70s, I knew a number of enlisted Marines who earned their commissions. All of them said that boot camp mostly just broke them mentally and rebuilt them as Marines and that OCS was a lot more physical.
 
I have a friend that's a Retired Navy Commander (Reserve) That started in Camp Pendelton at a boot.
First enlistment he was a Crypto Ratio operator in an intelligence platoon in Vietnam (left 'Nam in 67). Took his GI Bill and got an Engineering degree, Went OCS and became a Marine Officer in the 5th Marines. After he got his second engineering degree, switched to Navy and climbed up to full Commander with 13 deployments ending in 2018.

While on his last deployment (Bagdad) a Marine Captain took offence at my friends wearing an 8-point cover, and "Respectfully Reminded" him those were reserved for Marine use. The response was to the effect of. "I was a Lance Corporal in Nam before your dad ever (had relations with) your mom!"!

I have several friends and family that served in war and in peace as Marines. The truest statement ever is: Once a Marine, always a Marine!

Ivan
 
I had an Air Force shop chief that was prior Marine. No, he was still Marine, and we gave him grief continuously for it. A few of us went on a 7-mile hike up to an alpine lake in eastern WA and let him come with us. On the return trip, we filled his backpack with rocks. His wife, when she unloaded it when he got home, asked him why he brought all the rocks back. Dummy never realized his backpack gained about 40 pounds when we stopped for a break.
 
The Marine Corps doesn't have their own chaplains, they are provided by the Navy. When I was in boot camp at Parris Island our Catholic chaplain was Father Dennis Rocheford, Commander, USN. Father Rocheford really understood what boot camp was like, he had gone through Parris Island during Vietnam, later serving with A/1/1 in Hue City. He became a priest after returning from Vietnam, and joined the Navy Chaplain Corps as a way to continue serving his fellow Marines. He went on to serve in Desert Storm and the War on Terror. You couldn't ask for a better chaplain.

Father Rocheford may have been a Navy officer, but anyone who met him knew he was a MARINE.
 
pmanton said:
I did the opposite I was a SSGT E-6 in the Marine Corps. I wound up in a job I hated, and it looked that I'd be doing that for the rest of my 20. I got out with 9 years in.

I finished my 20 as an Army Warrant Officer.
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A friend of mine rose to the rank of major in the Corps. He resigned his commission to become an active duty Army National Guard warrant officer.
 
Ivan the Butcher said:
I have a friend that's a Retired Navy Commander (Reserve) That started in Camp Pendelton at a boot.
First enlistment he was a Crypto Ratio operator in an intelligence platoon in Vietnam (left 'Nam in 67). Took his GI Bill and got an Engineering degree, Went OCS and became a Marine Officer in the 5th Marines. After he got his second engineering degree, switched to Navy and climbed up to full Commander with 13 deployments ending in 2018.

While on his last deployment (Bagdad) a Marine Captain took offence at my friends wearing an 8-point cover, and "Respectfully Reminded" him those were reserved for Marine use. The response was to the effect of. "I was a Lance Corporal in Nam before your dad ever (had relations with) your mom!"!

I have several friends and family that served in war and in peace as Marines. The truest statement ever is: Once a Marine, always a Marine!

Ivan
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The Navy wears the same Cammie/Utility Cover as the Marines. Just without the emblem.
 
SMSgt said:
I had an Air Force shop chief that was prior Marine. No, he was still Marine, and we gave him grief continuously for it. A few of us went on a 7-mile hike up to an alpine lake in eastern WA and let him come with us. On the return trip, we filled his backpack with rocks. His wife, when she unloaded it when he got home, asked him why he brought all the rocks back. Dummy never realized his backpack gained about 40 pounds when we stopped for a break.
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At least he was able to do it.
 
During my time in the Army I served with three guys who had been former Marines. After one enlistment in the Marine Corps they all went Army and as long as I knew them in the Army all they ever talked about was how wonderful the Marines were.

At one point I asked each of them if the Marines were so great why are you in the Army? All I got in response was a lot of Blah. Blah, Blah
 
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Smoke said:
During my time in the Army I served with three guys who had been former Marines. After one enlistment in the Marine Corps they all went Army and as long as I knew them in the Army all they ever talked about was how wonderful the Marines were.

At one point I asked each of them if the Marines were so great why are you in the Army? All I got in response was a lot of Blah. Blah, Blah
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Those that you refer to probably could not cut it in the Corps. So they went where they could.
 
Thom_44 said:
carefully going through the article, i gets the feeling that he was pretty much about to get the boot out of the army. And hence went for the marines.

All the officers i have heard of who swapped branches, always STAYED officers if they had the ability to advance in rank again in their original branch of service.

The best company drill sergeant i had in benning in 2008 was a DI with 4 years of DI work, starting immediately after he left the marines after 20 years.
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He made captain in 4 years, so I doubt he was fixing to get the boot.
 
Muley Gil said:
He made captain in 4 years, so I doubt he was fixing to get the boot.
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I am not sure how they do it now and how it is done in the Army. But in the Corps all officers start out as Reserves. About the time they have been selected as an O-3, the Augmentation List comes out. Some are selected as Regulars and some stay as Reservist's.
 
AJ said:
Those that you refer to probably could not cut it in the Corps. So they went where they could.
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That was the inference I made but I never said that to any of them.


I was a driver for a Second Lieutenant at Fort Lewis who had been an E6 in the Marines and then went Army officer.

Given he was a senior NCO I can't say that he was a failure in the Marine Corps. I asked him one day why he went from NCO to officer. His answer was simple as a second lieutenant in the Army he made more than an E6 in the Marine Corps. I presume a marine E6 makes as much Base Pay as an Army E6. He also said the retirement as an officer would be better even if he never made it above captain.

He was one of the better officers I ever served with and I can't even remember his name
 
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Smoke said:
That was the inference I made but I never said that to any of them.


I was a driver for a Second Lieutenant at Fort Lewis who had been an E6 in the Marines and then went Army officer.

Given he was a senior NCO I can't say that he was a failure in the Marine Corps. I asked him one day why he went from NCO to officer. His answer was simple as a second lieutenant in the Army he made more than an E6 in the Marine Corps. I presume a marine E6 makes as much Base Pay as an Army E6. He also said the retirement as an officer would be better even if he never made it above captain.

He was one of the better officers I ever served with and I can't even remember his name
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A friend of mine was a S/Sgt. in the Corps. He got a private pilot's license on his own. He joined the Army as a WO-1 and became a helicopter pilot. In the Corps this would not have happened. In the Corps, he would have had to become an officer and then be selected for flight school. He stayed in the Army and retired as a CWO-5.

It has been my experience that officers that had been prior service enlisted were good to their troops and cared a bit more about them.
 
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AJ said:
I am not sure how they do it now and how it is done in the Army. But in the Corps all officers start out as Reserves. About the time they have been selected as an O-3, the Augmentation List comes out. Some are selected as Regulars and some stay as Reservist's.
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Back in the '70s, the Navy/Marine ROTC midshipmen were either on scholarship or on contract. Those on scholarship received Regular commissions and the contract middies received Reserve commissions.

I think that changed in the '90s, but I'm not sure. Also, back then, ANY college major that led to a BA or BS degree was acceptable. One of my Navy buddies was a music major, who graduated and then went to flight school.
 
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